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Got my tux for @mattmahermusic wedding. I feel like James Bond. I'm gonna buy a car I can't afford, talk with an accent and shoot stuff.
7 hours ago
Take a 5-minute survey and tell Life Teen what kind of app we can build for your phone. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/lifeteenapp
8 hours ago "Praise is tremendous therapy for self-absorbed, worried, and self-pitying souls. Praise is our rehearsal for heaven." - Peter Kreeft
10 hours ago
New blog for those needing workers for the vineyard! "If You Want to Learn to Do Youth Ministry..." http://bit.ly/9CLN8O
11 hours ago Nick Chavez updated his blog with some practical tips for youth ministers. RT @LifeTeen_CYM: Icebreakers 101 http://bit.ly/b3VVLY
1 day ago Love that the new iTunes logo looks like Life Teen's Catholicyouthministry.com logo. Matt Smith definitely has game!
1 day ago
Category Archives: Live Your Catholic Life
LifeTeen.com Blog
Load Your iPod: A Year’s Worth of New Praise and Worship
This summer Life Teen hosted three massive conferences for high school students: Steubenville East, Steubenville West, and Steubenville Atlanta. I called up each of our worship leaders and asked them what new music they played at each conference. If you are hungry for the same music that inspired you at the conference, you've come to the right place.
LifeTeen.com Blog
Surviving High School: Seniors
I distinctly remember my first day of senior year. I pulled into the school parking lot in my red 1994 Nissan Sentra (thanks Dad!) and walked into my homeroom like I had done everyday the three years before. Nothing around me was dramatically different. The people, the classrooms, and the schedule were all relatively familiar. However, there was one thing that was a little different - me. I held my head a little higher and my confidence was stronger. Why? Because I was a senior. Finally!
I anticipated my senior year to be full of memories and growth. It was the year I would take my first steps into adulthood, and the year that I would have to make big decisions about what I wanted to do next. Like many of you, I was excited and overwhelmed all at the same time.
LifeTeen.com Podcast
Molokai: The Story of Father Damien - Catholic Movie Reviews Podcast
...sometimes we get the idea that saints are these spiritual superstars, but the story of Father Damien shows an ordinary man answering the call to extraordinary holiness. He was a young priest who did what God asked him to do, and the movie gets that across. David Wenham as Damien continually impresses as a man who you can't help but look up to.
LifeTeen.com Blog
Surviving High School: Juniors
Surviving High School, eh? When I think back on junior year, what are the lessons I’d pass on about having a great time... hmm. I’ve been thinking about this for a few weeks, and I think I can sum it up in one sentence.
Bring on the haters.
LifeTeen.com Blog
Surviving High School: Sophomores
Sophomore year is a tricky time. You’re not the youngest anymore – you know your way around the campus and the high school life. You’re also not close to graduating yet, so those college apps aren’t piling up on your desk causing you or your parents added stress. You’re the best part of the high school Oreo – you’re right in the middle. Mmmmm, Oreos…
Sophomore year might best be described as a year of opportunity. This year you have the opportunity to become who you are, who God designed you to be (Jer. 1:4-8). This year offers you all new ways to really make an impact on the school, in other peoples’ lives and in your own faith walk.
LifeTeen.com Blog
Surviving High School: Freshman
You can probably still remember what it feels like to walk down the halls of your junior high or middle school. As an 8th grader, you might have felt like you owned the building. It feels so much better when you know where all the classrooms are, who most of the teachers are, and the fastest way to get your lunch. All that seems to be a distant memory as the first days of high school are here. It can be tough to go from an environment/school where you know everyone and how to get around to a bigger school with bigger halls, larger classes, and shorter lunch periods. How do you make that transition into high school a little easier?
LifeTeen.com Blog
Spend Wisely: Staying Holy in High School
Many of us have experienced transforming spiritual experiences during the summer; through camps, conferences, retreats, and mission trips we have made huge strides to grow closer to Christ - and in a sense, fatten our spiritual wallets. We’ve built up something I call “spiritual currency,” because in the same way we can save up money working a summer job, we have built up grace through our holy encounters this summer.
These encounters with Christ might begin to lose momentum as school approaches and as we catch up with people who didn’t experience our summer. This is the key moment when we’re tempted to “sell” our spiritual currency to fit in and be accepted. The price to fit in is high this first month, and you’ll be tempted to sell your integrity to fit into the party stories, to sell your chastity to fit into a relationship, to sell your morality to fit into a group of people, or to sell your dignity to avoid rejection - but beware the back to school "sales."
LifeTeen.com Podcast
Inception - Catholic Movie Reviews Podcast
There are a lot of people - Catholic and secular - who are trying to turn Inception into some sort of philosophical storytelling opus, as if its messages were meant to be unfolded and discussed for generations. I beg to differ. The reason some people didn’t “get” the film is because there’s not some immense secret to get.
Inception could very possibly be the movie of the year, and it’s flat out owned the summer season. It’s a must-see, as rare as those movies are... but trying to mine it for a message on reality is like saying Terminator 2 was really a dissertation on the evils of technology. Instead, Inception is what action movies should be: a smart, well-acted story in an arrestingly beautiful and immersive world that keeps you locked in from the opening shot to the end credits.
LifeTeen.com Blog
Dealing with the Fear of Rejection, a Teenager’s Guide
Over the summer, I met a lot of teenagers that like the idea of being 100% Catholic, but they are afraid that people will make fun of them for "being into God." They told me that it's easy to be a good Catholic at church or with their youth group, but once they get in their high school hallways, it's too hard to be different. They don't want to be mocked or criticized. Last week I talked about how to deal with this through prayer, but this week I want to go deeper about this fear of being rejected because of your Catholic faith. So let's talk about this statement: "They'll make fun of me." Is this fear of rejection valid?
LifeTeen.com Podcast
To Save A Life - Catholic Movie Reviews Podcast
"...it's pretty clear about fifteen minutes in that the movie's going to follow the story arc of a Christian drama. Not like 'TNT Knows Drama' drama, but the kind you see onstage at a youth conference. Movies that are 'Christian' a lot of times stay on the safe side - but To Save A Life gets closer to reality than most as it deals with teen suicide, teen pregnancy, and even cutting. It's a little long and a little predictable, but as far as church movies go, it's not half bad."
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